Unboxing Beauty

I love perfumes, but a lot of commercial ones deal with florals and I am very picky about floral perfumes.  Many of the scents I like are more earthy, berries, even foody and I also love the off-the-wall scents ~ ones that shouldn’t make any sense at all, but they do!

I was excited to find Haus Of Gloi through makeuptalk.com’s chat board and had been eying them for a few month’s before taking the plunge into purchasing them.

Welcome to the Haus! We are a small vegan business owned and operated by two individuals dedicated to bringing you the highest quality handmade bath & beauty goods and perfumes. All of our products are made in small batches to ensure quality and are made from scratch, never from a base. Our fragrances are intriguing blends inspired by seasonal tides and whatever else might catch our fancy.

So, yeah, I did buy A LOT…but that is the nice thing with samples.   I can purchase sample vials for $2.50 to $3.00 and decide if I like the scent enough to purchase a full size perfume oil or soap, or any other type of product they may have.

Here is my current stash, in no particular order!

 In no particular order:

• Honey Tree – Right from the bee hive honey, amplified by seductive essence of resinous vanilla, darkened by a passing waft of woody smoke.  Discontinued.  This is an amazing scent and I was glad that I got the last bottle of it.  I hope Matt & Britton make it again!
• Elevenses Perfume Oil  Not quite breakfast and not quite lunch, it’s the little sip and nibble in between… Fluffy little orange cakes, sugar coated toasty almonds and a wee steaming cup of black tea.   Ahh, Hobbit fans!!  I had to get this as I love Hobbits and LotR…This has a wonder scent of orange and I can smell the tea in it.  now, if they would make a series of them…Oakenshield, Smaug…
• Absinthe Perfume Oil  The Gloi interpretation of the fae vert! Hauntingly herbal. Wormwood and anise swim in a creamy green sea of lemon balm, green lemon, soft glowing mints, a hefty lump of sugar and the tiniest drop of suggestive deep green moss.
• Honeysuckle Lemon Curd  Perfume Oil Rich and lemony with a touch of fresh honeysuckle.  One of my fav’s
  
• The Brier Path Perfume Oil  The Brier Path Sun drenched trail leading to a day dream of ripe berries and woods’ rose, rich forest loam, ozone, dark amber and cream.   This is another discontinued scent and I am hording them.
• Zazz Perfume Oil  When something feels a bit lackluster, dull and boring it is obviously lacking, zazz. To fix this we recommend something definitely zazzy and not overly complicated: Tart cranberry, pink grapefruit, sparkling champagne, all shook up with crushed ginger.  Sold Out
• Beguiled Perfume Oil  Lemon Cake made with the tang of fresh buttermilk, raspberry coulis – an otherwise innocent cake corrupted by cardamom and deceptive pink peppercorns. Sold Out
•  Satyr Perfume Oil  Italian blood orange drizzled with a blackened vanilla.
• Tobac Perfume Oil Pipe tobacco, a wisp of smoke, Bourbon vanilla and two cedarwoods.  WOW.  I wasn’t sure how I would like this one, with the tobacco and bourbon, but it is so seductive and mysterious.  Very dark, very woodsy-earthy.
• The Horseman Perfume Oil  Autumnal forest and wood, distant fire, smooth saddle leather, brown musk and the lingering scent of a dark gentleman’s cologne on a black woolen coat.   This is also another scent that took me by surprise as it is very unusual.  I love forest/woodsy scents, and adding the musk and leather was a fine addition.
• Samhain (2013 vintage) Perfume Oil  Freshly turned earth, wet leaves, and a cool specter ridden wind.  Sold Out
• Spider Silk Perfume Oil  Procured from a dream: delicate water mint, wispy grey musk, crystalline webs of amber, oakmoss, torchwood, copaiba resin, and a touch of withered violet leaf.    This is another one in which I have to purchase a full size.  It is delicate, but packs a punch of mint and woody scents.
•  Olde Cider Haus Perfume Oil  Old oak, sweet drying hay fields, crushed apple pulp and vanilla bean husks.  Smells just like a cider mill!
•  Picaroon Perfume Oil Sun scorched mahogany bough crusted with a crystalline sea spray! Faint plundered spices, lemongrass, coconuts, expressed Mexican lime, and Haitian bay rum.
•  Moon Dog Perfume Oil Solar storms erupt: pure cracked coconut, dry sandalwood essence, heated with nutmeg and clove.
•  Madcap Garden Perfume Oil   A lively blend of pure black tea chilled with peppermint and the tiniest spike of sweet honey. Very unisex, stimulating, addictive, and bright.  This is very similar to Spider Silk, but with a honey punch.  If this is the one that is part of their permanent collection, it is close enough (at least to me) to be a respectable substitution for Spider Silk.  I am sure those who have better nose sniffers than me will disagree!
• Apothecary Perfume Oil  Old books, bubbling concoctions, herbs and creaking floor boards! A pure essential oil blend of: Lemongrass, rosemary, blood cedar, sweet basil, lavender and the tiniest drop of vetiver.
• Imp Perfume Oil  Passion fruit, sun cured apricots, pink grapefruit juice and innocent mimosa blossoms.

I haven’t sniffed all of the oils yet, as these are very concentrated scents and you can only test a few out at a time before they start to mingle.  And then you don’t know what it smells like!!   I can say that the ones I have tried, I do enjoy .  With some of them, I have gone back to purchased full sized vials from Haus of Gloi.

I suggest signing up for their newsletter and also following them on their facebook page to get new releases, restocks and just general information.   If you drop them a message, telling them what scents you like, Matt and Britton will respond with suggestions!  Great customer service and I am obsessed with Elevenses right now ~ it has to be one of my favorites 😀  I hope they do a monthly or quarterly subscription box.

[ descriptions in italics are from hausofgloi.com ]